Air circulator for furnaces



July 31, 1928. 1,679,047

R. W. MENK AIR .CIRCULATOR FOR FURNACES Filed-Aug. 15, 1926 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 fiaz PH W MI/VK July 31, 1928.

RJW; MENK AIR cmcdmwon fi'on FIJRNLACES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed-Au 13, 1926 Patented July 31, 1928.

UNITED STATES RUDOLIH W. MENK, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

AIR CIRCULA'IOR FOR FURNACES.

Application filed August 13; 1926. SerialNo. 128,993.

My present invention relates to furnaces of the hot air type and has more particular reference to a structure of th s character that is provided with means whereby the velocity of the air passing through the furnace is increased so as to obtain a maximum efficiency from the furnace. Structures for increasing the velocity of the air in hot-air heating furnaces are commerically known as boosters and usually consists of a duct or passageway of annular form disposed with an outlet or orifice within the enclosing shell or casing ofthe furnace and is provided with a fan or blower whereby a rapidly circulating current of air is created that is discharged within the shell or casing.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of an air-circulator that is so constructed that it may be readily installed in a hot-air heating furnace that is alreaoy in use without the necessity of having to tear down or disassemble the furnace structure or substitute a new casing, and the booster is so made that it may be readily installed in hotair heating furnaces of divers types or constructions. Itis also an objectof my invention to provide a structure whichwill dependably circulate the air within the fur nace shell or casing by causing the air to travel in an upward directionin intimate contact with the walls of the heating unit so as to take therefrom a maximum quantity of the heat units. Other objects of my inven tion reside in providing an air circulatorthat is novel in construction, economical to manufacture, compact in arrangement and which is easy to install; and I prefer to ac complish the foregoin objects and carry out my invention in substantially the manner hereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out in the claims. Referonce is herein made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of this application in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation of a hot air heating furnace showing my air'circulator installed therein.

Figure 2 is a transverse horizontal section taken on line 22'of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 33 of Figure l and drawn to an enlarged scale to illustrate in detail the construction and arrangement of the parts. 7

The drawings are in a sense schematic for the purpose of illustrating the principles of my invention as embodied in a typical or preferred form and throughout the drawings similar reference characters are employed to designate like-parts wherever they appear.

The furnace structure comprises the usual cylindrical exterior shell 5 the upper portion of which is closed by a frustuni conical hood 6, and the side walls of this hood are provided with discharge openings surwhich the heated air is discharged to the pipes or conduits that distribute the air to the rooms or apartments being heated. The casing 5 surrounds the usual heating-unit 8' that is preferably of cast metal and is spaced from and surrounded by the casing 5 so as to permit the circulation of air between these e ements. In the usual formsuch furnaces receive the cool air through the lower portion of the casing 5 to which it is led by large flues 9 known as the cold-air or return ducts and as this is heated by contact with the surface of the fire-pot said air ascends and is discharged through the ports 7into rounded by collars 7 or the like, through the warm air flues for circulation in other portions of the buildings. Unless the capaclty of the pipes or ducts leading toand from the casing has been accurately estimated and the fire-pot is of the proper dimensions, there crease the velocity of the air within the casing so that the desired flow thereof is obtained.

The circulator which I have designed preferably comprises a blower unit 10 that is actuated by a motor or other power device 11 and takes in air through an inlet opening 12 which may or may not be connected with the return ducts 9 as desired. A substantially fan-shaped or tapered connector 13 extends from the discharge open ing of the blower toward the furnace where it leads into the segmental-shaped distributor. structure. This distributor structure comprises a substantially vertical wall 14 of such vertical dimensions that it willclose an elongated horizontal opening 5 made in the furnace casing and is secured therein in the manner to be hereinafter described. From the vertical wall 14; there extend upper and lower walls-15 and 16 and from the opposite 'or inner edge of the lower wall farthest from the main wall 14c there is another vertical wall 17 disposed substantially parallel with or concentric to the wall 14, These walls are so'arranged that when tie outer wall 1-1 is placed so as to close the opening in a furnace shell or casing said walls will project inwardly into the space between the shell or casing and the heating unit and the wall 14 will form a continuation of the wall of the casing.

The upper portion oi": the wall 1 l is bent back upon itself at 18 to provide a channel into which is inserted the lateral flange 19 on the outer edge of the upper wall to cure it in position. The lower portion of the wall 14: is heat back upon itself as at 20 to provide a channel in which the laeral flange 21 on the outer edge of the lower wall is inserted and secured. and after forming said channel. the remaining portion of the metal forming the wall 1st beyond this bend :tolded downwardly as at 22 to provide a'downwardly facing channel to receive the edge of the casing wall at the bottom of the opening that is cutin the same to install the distributor. As seen in Figure 3, the upper edge of the wall M is formed llshapcd in cross-section to receive the flange 19 and the lower edge of the wall termed S-shaped in section to recciveboth the flange 20 and the edge of the casing wall below the opening, while the band of metal 231? beyond the bend 22 will be disposed inside the shell. This structure permits the distributor to be inserted into the opening in the casing and lowered until the edge of the shell adjacent the opening enters the channel and the upper portion then placed against the outer surface of the casing at the upper edge of the opening and may be secured in this po sition by suitablerivets, bolts, or the like 2%. This construction economical to manutacture and it also permits variations in the thickness of the metal and insi as a tight lit in the event the workman "fails to take the proper measurements in cutting the opening in the casing, due to the fact that the band 23 of the distributor may be moved up and down telescopically on the casing wall until the desired place is obtained for inserting the rivets or the like.

As will be seen in the drawings (Figure 3), the top and bottom walls 15 and 1G incline towards each other or diverge away from the main or supporting wall 14: so that the distributor appears in frustopyramidal shape in section, and the inner edge of the top wall is spaced from the upper edge of the inner vertical wall 17 a distance to provide a restricted elongated passageway or discharge opening 25 of curved shape. The inclination of the top wall 15 is such that the plane thereof is preterably ina line that will intersect the plane of the vertical inner wall 17 at the ing from the shell or casing.

upper edge of the latter, but while this is desirable it is not essential. I prefer to provide a depending apron 26 upon the inner portion of top wall 15 that extends down into the distributor chamber to ahorizontal plane below the upper edge of the inner wall 17, which prevents the flow of the air through the discharge opening or passage way of the distributor in a horizontal direction, but directs the current of air upwardly in a more or less vertical direction so that it will impinge upon the surface of the heating unit and carry oil the heat therefrom to be circulated through the pipes lead- The construction and arrangement of the parts of this device is such that a venturi is created and the air discharged from the distributor is caused to flow in a positive direction.

While I have herein illustrated and descril ed specific mz'znner of carrying out my invention, it will. be understood that changes may be made for adapting the principles as required, and I therefore desire it understood that all such changes are fully contemplated as coming within the scope of the a ipcnded claims. It will also be appreciated that a distributor of this character may be made which employs the top, bottom and inner walls and is secured upon the inner surface of the shell or casing so that the latter provides the outer wall of the distributor, thus providing a structure that may be as a part of the furnace when manutzmturcd, and the furnace sold with such a distributor as an integral part thereof.

What I claim is 1. An air circula tor for furnaces comprising a segmental shaped walled pasageway formed, with an outer wall, upper and lower wal. extended inwardly from said outer wall, the upper wall being of less width than the lower wall, and an inner wall projecting from the inner edge of the lower wall, the upper edge of which terminates adjacent and spaced tronrthe inner edge of the upper wall whereby to provide a discharge outlet in the upper portion of the structure.

'2. An air circulator for furnaces comprising a segmenta shaped walled passageway formed with an outer wall, upper and lower walls extended inwardly from said outer wall, the upper wall being oit'less width than the lower wall, an apron depending from the inner portion of the upper wall, and an inner wall projecting from the inner edge of the lower wall, the upper edge of which terminates adjacent said apron whereby to provide a discharge outlet in the upper portion of the structure.

3. An air circulator for furnacescomprising a. segmental shaped walled passageway formed with a vertical outer wall, upper and lower walls inclined inwardly towards each other from opposite edges of said outer wall,

and an inner wall projecting from the inner edge of the lower wall, the upper edge of which is disposed in spaced relation with respect to the inner edge of the upper wall to provide a discharge opening therebetween.

4. An air circulator for furnaces comprising a segmental shaped walled passageway formed with a vertical outer wall, upper and lower walls inclined inwardly towards each other from opposite edges of said outer wall, an apron depending from the inner portion of the upper wall, and an inner substantially vertical wall projecting from the inner edge of the lower wall, the upper edge of which terminates adjacent said apron whereby to provide a discharge outlet in the upper inner portion of the structure.

5. A hot-air heating-furnace comprising a heating unit, a casing surrounding the same and spaced therefrom, distributor pipes leading from the upper portion of said casing, an air-circulator device consisting of a plurality of walls extending inwardly from said casmg at an angle thereto and spaced apart to provide a conduit between said casing and said heating unit, the inner portion of said walls approaching each other and separated to provide an elongated outlet from the conduit formed by said walls, and means for delivering a current of air into said conduit.

6. A hot-air heating-furnace comprising a heating unit, a casing surrounding the same and spaced therefrom to provide a return-air heating chamber between the same, distributor pipes leading from the upper portion of said casing, a return-air pipe discharging into said chamber, and an air-circulator in said chamber consisting of a walled conduit formed upon the inner face of said casing and extending inwardly therefrom towards the heating unit and having an elongated discharge opening, through which air is discharged into said chamber, and means for delivering a current of air into said conduit.

7. A hot-air heating-furnace comprising a heating unit, a casing surrounding the same and spaced therefrom, distributor pipes leading from the upper portion of said casing, and an air-circulator consisting of upper and lower spaced Walls extending inwardly from said casing, one of saidwalls having a portion extended towards and spaced from the inner portion of the other wall to provide an elongated discharge opening in said circulator, and means for delivering air between said walls.

8. A hot-air heating-furnace comprising a heating unit, a casing surrounding the same and spaced therefrom, distributor pipes leading from the upper portion of said casing, and an air-circulator consisting of upper and lower spaced walls extending inwardly from said casing, the inner p0r tions of said walls being extended laterally to the respective walls and towards each other and having their adjacent portions separated horizontally to provide an elongated discharge opening in said circulator, and means communicating with the interior of said circulator for delivering a current of air thereto. I

9. The combination with the casing of a hot-air heating furnace, and a heating unit within the same and spaced therefrom whereby a air-heating chamber is provided between the same, of a conduit consisting of latterly extendingwalls mounted upon and consisting of walls at an angle to and extending inwardly from said easing into said heating chamber and provided with an egress port within the casing and an ingress port to receive air from the exterior of the casing whereby air entering said conduit is discharged into said chamber.

10. The combination with the casing of a hot-air heating furnace and a heating unit within and spaced therefrom whereby an air-heating chamber is provided between the same, of a conduit within said casing consisting of a hollow walled structure extending from the easing into said chamber and having portions disposed against said casing and secured thereto, said conduit arranged to discharge air into said chamber.

11. The combination with the casing of-a hot-air heating furnace having an elongated horizontal opening therein, of a walled conduit positioned in said opening and closing the same, said conduit provided with upper and lower flanges that are engaged with said casing upon opposite sides of said opening, and said conduit provided with egress and ingress ports respectively within and without said casing.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook, and State of Illinois, this 7th day of May,

RUDOLPH W. MENK. 

